Group Communication in a Communication System

Abstract

In a communication system providing a group communication service, a group document server is configured to detect that a scheduled conference for a group is created or modified in a group information document, and to send to an appropriate application server a group advertisement message which is extended to include a new flag, which indicates whether this group is used for a scheduled conference or not. Upon receiving the message with the scheduled conference flag, the application server is adapted to fetch a respective group document from the group document server and with it also the information about the scheduled conference of the group. The application server then schedules the conference to initiate according to the received information.

1 . A method, wherein:
 a group document server detects that a scheduled conference for a group is created or modified in a group document,   in response to detecting a creation or modification of a scheduled conference, the group document server sends to an appropriate application server a message which indicates that this group is used for a scheduled conference,   in response to receiving said message, the application server retrieves said group document from the group document server and with said group document also schedule information about the created or modified scheduled conference of the group,   the application server schedules the conference to initiate according to said schedule information in a communication system providing a group communication service.   
   
   
       2 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein said message is a Group Advertisement message which is extended to include a flag, which indicates whether this group is used for a scheduled conference or not. 
   
   
       3 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein said retrieving comprises
 the application server sends a group document request to the group document server, preferably a HTTP GET message, and   the group document server sends the group document to the application server, preferably in a 200 OK message.   
   
   
       4 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the group document is an XML document, and the group document server is a group XML document management server. 
   
   
       5 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein said schedule information includes at least a start time, optionally also an end time and/or other criteria of the scheduled conference, such as presence information of at least one group member. 
   
   
       6 . A group document server, wherein
 the group document server for a communication system providing a group communication service is accessible to a user for creating or modifying a scheduled conference for a group in a group document,   the group document server is configured to detect that a scheduled conference for a group is created or modified in a group document,   the group document server is responsive to detecting the creation or modification of a scheduled conference for sending to an appropriate application server a message which indicates that this group is used for a scheduled conference.   
   
   
       7 . A server according to  claim 6 , wherein said message is a Group Advertisement message which is extended to include a flag, which indicates whether this group is used for scheduled conference or not. 
   
   
       8 . A server according to  claim 6 , wherein
 the group document server is configured to select the appropriate application server based on supported media types field in the group document.   
   
   
       9 . A server according to  claim 6 , wherein
 the group document server is configured to receive from the application server a group document request, preferably a HTTP GET message, and   the group document server is configured to send the group document to the application server, preferably in a 200 OK message.   
   
   
       10 . A server according to  claim 6 , wherein the group document is an XML document, and the group document server is a group XML document management server. 
   
   
       11 . An application server, wherein
 the application server is configured to receive from a group document server a message which indicates that there is a scheduled conference for a communication group in a communication system providing a group communication service,   in response to receiving said message, the application server retrieves a group document of the respective communication group from the group document server and with said group document also schedule information about the scheduled conference of the group,   the application server is configured to schedule the conference to initiate according to said schedule information.   
   
   
       12 . A server according to  claim 11 , wherein said message is a Group Advertisement message which is extended to include a flag, which indicates whether this group is used for scheduled conference or not. 
   
   
       13 . A server according to  claim 11 , wherein
 in response to receiving said message, the application server sends a group document request to the group document server, preferably a HTTP GET message, and   the application server is configured to receive the group document from the group document server, preferably in a 200 OK message.   
   
   
       14 . A server according to  claim 11 , wherein the application server is a PoC server, and the group document is an XML document. 
   
   
       15 . A computer program embodied in a computer-readable medium and comprising program instructions, wherein the execution of said program instructions causes a device containing the computer program product to implement at least the following operations of a group document server:
 detecting that a scheduled conference for a group is created or modified in a group document,   in response to detecting a creation or modification of a scheduled conference, sending to an appropriate application server a message which indicates that this group is used for a scheduled conference.   
   
   
       16 . A computer program embodied in a computer-readable medium and comprising program instructions, wherein the execution of said program instructions causes a device containing the computer program product to implement at least the following operations of an application server:
 receiving from a group document server a message which indicates that there is a scheduled conference for a communication group,   in response to receiving said message, retrieving a group document of the respective communication group from the group document server and with it also schedule information about the scheduled conference of the group,   scheduling the conference to initiate according to said schedule information.